New Member

Please take a minute to introduce yourself!
Locked
dandva United States of America
Earth Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2022 4:12 pm
1
Location: Fredericksburg, Virginia
Status:
Offline

New Member

#1

Post by dandva »


Hi all.......My name is Dan and I'm new with the Forum and Telescoping the night skies..Wife bought me a Celestron Explorer DX 130mm Az Newtonian scope for my birthday....so far with just the stock EP's I've been able see the rings on Saturn......Jupiter and 5 moons...assorted Stars and the Orion Nebula....
I'm in Virginia....some city lights of course...I'm anxious to read up on what you folks have to say on different topics especially Upgrading the Lenses....

Clear skies to all.......Thanks for having me.

Dandva
User avatar
Bigzmey United States of America
Moderator
Moderator
Articles: 8
Online
Posts: 7645
Joined: Sat May 11, 2019 7:55 pm
4
Location: San Diego, CA USA
Status:
Online

TSS Awards Badges

Re: New Member

#2

Post by Bigzmey »


Welcome on board Danvdva! If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.
Solar: HA: Lunt 50mm single stack, W/L: Meade Herschel wedge.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2437, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 257
User avatar
Makuser United States of America
In Memory
In Memory
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 6394
Joined: Mon May 06, 2019 12:53 am
4
Location: Rockledge, FL.
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

TSS Photo of the Day

Re: New Member

#3

Post by Makuser »


Hi Dan. We're all happy to have you on board here at TSS. And it looks like you are already off to a great start. Welcome to the forum Dan, and the best of wishes on your astronomy hobby adventures from a former Virginian (Winchester).
:text-welcomeconfetti:
Marshall
Sky-Watcher 90mm f/13.8 Maksutov-Cassegrain on motorized Multimount
Orion Astroview 120ST f/5 Refractor on EQ3 mount
Celestron Comet Catcher 140mm f/3.64 Schmidt-Newtonian on alt-az mount
Celestron Omni XLT150R f/5 Refractor on CG4 mount with dual axis drives.
Orion 180mm f/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain on CG5-GT Goto mount.
Orion XT12i 12" f/4.9 Dobsonian Intelliscope.
Kamakura 7x35 Binoculars and Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Binoculars. ZWO ASI 120MC camera.
>)))))*>
User avatar
smp United States of America
Inter-Galactic Ambassador
Articles: 0
Online
Posts: 3417
Joined: Sat May 11, 2019 10:34 pm
4
Location: NH, USA
Status:
Online

Re: New Member

#4

Post by smp »


Hi Dan, and welcome here to the Forum!

smp
Stephen
- - - - -
Telescopes: Questar 3.5 Standard SN 18-11421; Stellina (EAA)
Solar: Thousand Oaks white light filter; Daystar Quark (chromosphere) Hα filter
Mounts: Explore Scientific Twilight I; Majestic heavy duty tripod
Local Club: New Hampshire Astronomical Society
User avatar
messier 111 Canada
Universal Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 9518
Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2020 2:49 am
3
Location: Canada's capital region .
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

Re: New Member

#5

Post by messier 111 »


:text-welcomeconfetti:
I LOVE REFRACTORS , :Astronomer1: :sprefac:

REFRACTOR , TS-Optics Doublet SD-APO 125 mm f/7.8 . Lunt 80mm MT Ha Doublet Refractor .

EYEPIECES, Delos , Delite and 26mm Nagler t5 , 2 zoom Svbony 7-21 , Orion Premium Linear BinoViewer .

FILTER , Nebustar 2 tele vue . Apm solar wedge . contrast booster 2 inches .

Mounts , cg-4 motorized , eq6 pro belt drive .

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.”
― Isaac Asimov

Jean-Yves :flags-canada:
User avatar
JayTee United States of America
Universal Ambassador
Articles: 2
Offline
Posts: 5638
Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2019 3:23 am
4
Location: Idaho, USA
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

TSS Photo of the Day

Re: New Member

#6

Post by JayTee »


Hello Dan,

Welcome to TSS. Glad you joined us. :text-welcomeconfetti:

Cheers
∞ Primary Scopes: #1: Celestron CPC1100 #2: 8" f/7.5 Dob #3: CR150HD f/8 6" frac
∞ AP Scopes: #1: TPO 6" f/9 RC #2: ES 102 f/7 APO #3: ES 80mm f/6 APO
∞ G&G Scopes: #1: Meade 102mm f/7.8 #2: Bresser 102mm f/4.5
∞ Guide Scopes: 70 & 80mm fracs -- The El Cheapo Bros.
∞ Mounts: iOptron CEM70AG, SW EQ6, Celestron AVX, SLT & GT (Alt-Az), Meade DS2000
∞ Cameras: #1: ZWO ASI294MC Pro #2: 662MC #3: 120MC, Canon T3i, Orion SSAG, WYZE Cam3
∞ Binos: 10X50,11X70,15X70, 25X100
∞ EPs: ES 2": 21mm 100° & 30mm 82° Pentax XW: 7, 10, 14, & 20mm 70°

Searching the skies since 1966. "I never met a scope I didn't want to keep."

Image
User avatar
Gordon United States of America
Site Admin
Site Admin
Articles: 1044
Offline
Posts: 8366
Joined: Wed Apr 24, 2019 10:52 pm
4
Location: Cottonwood, AZ
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

TSS Photo of the Day

I Broke The Forum.

TSS EAA Messier awards

Re: New Member

#7

Post by Gordon »


Hi Dan!!

Welcome to TSS!

It sounds like you have the new scope up and running!!
Gordon
Scopes: Explore Scientific ED80CF, Skywatcher 200 Quattro Imaging Newt, SeeStar S50 for EAA.
Mounts: Orion Atlas EQ-g mount & Skywatcher EQ5 Pro.
ZWO mini guider.
Image cameras: ZWO ASI1600 MM Cool, ZWO ASI533mc-Pro, ZWO ASI174mm-C (for use with my Quark chromosphere), ZWO ASI120MC
Filters: LRGB, Ha 7nm, O-III 7nm, S-II 7nm
Eyepieces: a few.
Primary software: Cartes du Ciel, N.I.N.A, StarTools V1.4.

Image
User avatar
John Donne United States of America
Orion Spur Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 967
Joined: Mon Oct 05, 2020 5:34 am
3
Location: US
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

TSS Photo of the Day

Re: New Member

#8

Post by John Donne »


It is great to meet you Dan !
Thank you for joining us.
👍
SCOPES :ES127 f7.5, SW100 f9 Evostar, ES80 F6, LXD75 8" f10 SCT, 2120 10" f10 SCT, ES152 f6.5.
MOUNTS: SW AZ/EQ5, MEADE LXD75, CELESTRON CG4, Farpoint Parallelogram.
BINOCULARS: CL 10X30, Pentax 8X43, 25X100 Oberwerks.
EP: Many.

"I am more than a sum of molecules.
I am more than a sum of memories or events.
I do not one day suddenly cease to be.
I am, before memory.
I am, before event.
I am"
User avatar
Butterfly Maiden Great Britain
Local Group Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 2662
Joined: Mon May 11, 2020 8:32 pm
3
Location: New Forest, Hampshire, UK
Status:
Offline

TSS Photo of the Day

Re: New Member

#9

Post by Butterfly Maiden »


Hello Dan and welcome to the Forum.
Vanessa

Nikon D82 Fieldscope with 30x/45x/56x angled eyepiece.
Olympus DPS-1 10x50 binoculars.
Leica 8x32BN binoculars.
dandva United States of America
Earth Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2022 4:12 pm
1
Location: Fredericksburg, Virginia
Status:
Offline

Re: New Member

#10

Post by dandva »


Thank you everyone for the nice welcome......feel right at home already.....I'll try not to ask too many questions to initially start off...but one i do have.....

What is a good size eyepiece...to observe Nebulas, clusters possibly the Andromeda galaxy.....??
Celestron Starsense 130mm...f-5....650mm FL Reflector Newtonian Telescope :observer:
Celestron supplied EP's....10mm & 25mm
Celestron Omni 2x Barlow
Moon Filter & Lumicon UHC
User avatar
Juno16 United States of America
Universal Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 8210
Joined: Sun May 12, 2019 3:13 pm
4
Location: Mississippi Gulf Coast
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

TSS Photo of the Day

Re: New Member

#11

Post by Juno16 »


Hi Dan and welcome to TSS!

It's great to have you here!

I have a 5" Celestron F5 650mm Newtonian very similar to yours and I have found that my favorite eyepiece are an 8mm and 12mm. They offer views at 81x and 54x respectively with your 650mm scope. I have a 5mm (130x) but find that I can only use the 5mm rarely with good transparence and good seeing (something that I usually don't have). These are not high-end eyepieces. They are Agena Starguider and Celestron X-Cel in the $50-$100 range. A small and sharp view beats a bigger and blurry view to me any day!

This is my very limited experience. I am an AP guy. Please wait for some of the "visual" folks to chime in.
Jim

Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod
Stuff: ASI EAF Focus Motor (x2), ZWO OAG, ZWO 30 mm Guide Scope, ASI 220mm min, ASI 120mm mini, Stellarview 0.8 FR/FF, Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF, Mele Overloock 3C.
Camera/Filters/Software: ASI 533 mc pro, ASI 120mm mini, ASI 220mm mini , IDAS LPS D-1, Optolong L-Enhance, ZWO UV/IR Cut, N.I.N.A., Green Swamp Server, PHD2, Adobe Photoshop CC, Pixinsight.
Dog and best bud: Jack
Sky: Bortle 6-7
My Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/Juno16/
dandva United States of America
Earth Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2022 4:12 pm
1
Location: Fredericksburg, Virginia
Status:
Offline

Re: New Member

#12

Post by dandva »


Thank you Jim........I'll look into those EP'S and also any additional comments...
Celestron Starsense 130mm...f-5....650mm FL Reflector Newtonian Telescope :observer:
Celestron supplied EP's....10mm & 25mm
Celestron Omni 2x Barlow
Moon Filter & Lumicon UHC
User avatar
Bigzmey United States of America
Moderator
Moderator
Articles: 8
Online
Posts: 7645
Joined: Sat May 11, 2019 7:55 pm
4
Location: San Diego, CA USA
Status:
Online

TSS Awards Badges

Re: New Member

#13

Post by Bigzmey »


I would second Jim's suggestion for Agena Starguider Dual ED EPs.

https://agenaastro.com/catalogsearch/re ... =dual%20ed

They are good beginner EPs with good ergonomics and wide 60 deg FOV. I would suggest to pick 25mm, 12mm and a barlow

https://agenaastro.com/gso-1-25-2x-achr ... -lens.html

Combination of balrow with two EPs will provide you with following FLs (powers):

25mm (26x), 16.7mm (39x), 12mm (13x), 8mm (81x), 6mm (108x).
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.
Solar: HA: Lunt 50mm single stack, W/L: Meade Herschel wedge.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2437, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 257
User avatar
Ylem United States of America
Universal Ambassador
Articles: 0
Online
Posts: 7547
Joined: Sun May 12, 2019 2:54 am
4
Location: Ocean County, New Jersey
Status:
Online

TSS Photo of the Day

Re: New Member

#14

Post by Ylem »


Welcome to TSS Dan, thanks for joining us 🙂
Clear Skies,
-Jeff :telescopewink:


Member; ASTRA-NJ



Orion 80ED
Celestron C5, 6SE, Celestar 8
Vixen Porta Mount ll
Coronado PST
A big box of Plossls
Little box of filters
:D



User avatar
10538 United States of America
Pluto Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 476
Joined: Wed May 15, 2019 10:11 am
4
Location: Fairfield N.C. USA
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

Re: New Member

#15

Post by 10538 »


:text-welcomewave: Welcome aboard Dan. You’re going to like it here! :text-welcomewave:
Ed :Astronomer1:
Scopes: Orion 14 inch f/4.6 Dobsonian w/MoonLite focuser. Meade LX200 Classic 10”w/AudioStar and MoonLite focuser, Criterion RV6, Orion ST80A w/2” GSO micro focuser.
Eyepieces: ES 5.5mm 100*, 6.7mm 82*, 11mm 82*, 14mm 100*, 18mm 82*, 20mm 100*, Meade 9mm XWA 100*, 24mm UWA 82*, 56mm 50*, TV Delos 6,8 & 10mm, Panoptic 24, 27 & 35mm, 17mm Nagler, Powermate 2X, Baader 6mm Ortho, Paracorr II.
MISC: William Optics Binoviewer, Revolution 2 Imager, Orion Skyview Pro Mount, Skymaster 15x70, 20x70, 25x100 Binos, HoTech Collimator, Kendrick Dew System,Catsperch Chair.
Messier 110 Complete/ Messier 110 Sketches Complete / Herschel 400 Complete / H-2 and H-3 Complete
Bortle 3 Skies in Down Eastern NC
“Starlight, I hear you calling out to me so far away” Jeff Lynne ELO.
User avatar
Lady Fraktor Slovakia
Universal Ambassador
Articles: 0
Online
Posts: 9962
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2019 9:14 pm
4
Location: Slovakia
Status:
Online

Re: New Member

#16

Post by Lady Fraktor »


Welcome to the forums :)
Gabrielle
See Far Sticks: Elita 103/1575, AOM FLT 105/1000, Bresser 127/1200 BV, Nočný stopár 152/1200, Vyrobené doma 70/700, Stellarvue NHNG DX 80/552, TAL RS 100/1000, Vixen SD115s/885
EQ: TAL MT-1, Vixen SXP, SXP2, AXJ, AXD
Az/Alt: AYO Digi II, Stellarvue M2C, Argo Navis encoders on both
Tripods: Berlebach Planet (2), Uni 28 Astro, Report 372, TAL factory maple, Vixen ASG-CB90, Vixen AXD-TR102
Diagonals: Astro-Physics, Baader Amici, Baader Herschel, iStar Blue, Stellarvue DX, Tak prism, TAL, Vixen
Eyepieces: Antares to Zeiss (1011110)
The only culture I have is from yogurt
Image
User avatar
jrkirkham United States of America
Orion Spur Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 945
Joined: Fri Jun 07, 2019 12:37 am
4
Location: Illinois United States
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

TSS Photo of the Day

Re: New Member

#17

Post by jrkirkham »


:Astronomer1: WELCOME!
Rob
Telescopes: 50mm refractor, ED80 triplet, 90mm makcass, 10" dob, 8"SCT, 11"SCT
Mounts: Celestron CGX, Orion Sirius + several camera tripods
Cameras: Canon 6D, Canon 80D, ZWO-ASI120MC
Binoculars: 10x50, 12x60, 15x70, 25-125x80
Observatory: SkyShed POD XL3 + 8x12 warm room
AL Projects Completed: Lunar #645, Outreach #0280, Universe Sampler #93-T, Binocular Messier #871, Messier #2521, Messier Honorary #2521, Constellation Hunter Northern Skies #112, Planetary Transit Venus #1, Galileo #26, Outreach Stellar 0280, Meteor Regular #157, Solar System Telescopic #209-I, Observer Award #1
AL Projects Currently in Process: Double Stars, Comet, Lunar Evolution
Locked

Return to “Welcome Introductions”